Frequently Asked Questions

Simple Answers

Common insurance questions, answered.

Got insurance questions? We’ve got the answers to the most common questions we are asked, everyday. And to make navigating the answers easier, we’ve broken the frequently asked questions into several categories. Nice and simple.

Should I have my home and auto insurance with the same company?

Absolutely YES! If you can package your home and auto together with the same insurance company you should do it. There could be significant cost savings involved, in addition to other benefits.

Do claims and tickets affect my insurance premiums?

Yes. Claims for homes and claims and violations for autos do make a difference in the rating of your policy. The impact depends on the severity of the claim and if you were at fault. Tickets and accidents will impact your premiums for a three-year period while major tickets such as DUI’s and careless driving can impact your rates for five years.

Is my credit considered when rating my policies?

Yes. Your credit will be checked when an insurance company is rating a home or automobile policy for you. This is an insurance score, which is slightly different than your credit score. The insurance score does not show as a “hit” on your credit, like other credit inquiries (multiple credit inquiries can actually lower your credit score).

Is Business Insurance Tax Deductible?

Business insurance is tax deductible, as long as the coverage is for the purpose of operating a business, profession, or a trade. Businesses may not deduct their business insurance premiums if the coverage is for the purpose of a self-insurance reserve fund or a loss of earning insurance policy.

What is the difference between general liability and professional liability?

At a 10,000 foot view general liability is slips, trips and falls meaning bodily injury and/or property damage to a 3rd party. Professional liability is protecting your business against bad advice or guidance. Any time you give professional opinion, advice or guidance you are opening yourself up to a professional liability claim.

Should my small business have business income insurance?

Business income provides reimbursement for lost revenue after a covered insurance loss. For a company that does not have a physical address that is crucial to its business, such as a contractor, business income is probably not necessary. For store front or main street businesses, like a coffee shop, business income is a must.

What is life insurance?

Life insurance is a contract binding a life insurance company to compensate a beneficiary for the death of a person insured. If the insured dies the company will provide a cash payment to the beneficiary. Life insurance is used to protect the economic value of a human life with regards to those who may be financially dependent upon it.

Does health-care reform apply to our company?

Effective January 1, 2015, companies that employ 50 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, must offer an affordable group health plan to their full-time employees (and dependent children up to age 26) or possibly be liable for a penalty.

Small businesses, those with fewer than 50 full-time employees, are not subject to this provision. In fact, small businesses have the option to purchase plans on state-run or federally run Exchanges and may qualify for tax credits to offset the cost of providing insurance coverage to employees.

Can employees pay for or share in the cost of healthcare?

Yes. You as the employer may choose how much of the cost you would like to share with your employees. This gives you tremendous flexibility to tailor a benefit package for your company at a price you will feel comfortable with.

What industries do you specialize in?

We work with a variety of businesses in Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia but we have specialty expertise in construction, church, winery, B&B, farm, high net-worth, restaurant, sport camp, and daycare insurance.

What is an Independent Insurance Agent?

What defines an Independent Insurance Agent is our ability to shop your insurance through multiple insurance companies. Our job is help you create the best coverage package to meet your needs and then go to the market and find the most competitively priced insurance company for those coverages.

Does changing my insurance company affect my credit score?

Changing your insurance carrier has NO effect on your credit score. You can change as often as you like and it makes no matter to your credit score.

I had a claim, now what?

We know that “stuff happens” and there will be the unfortunate instance where you will have a claim to report. The majority of our companies have 24/7 claim centers and we would first advise you to call your insurance company in which you had the claim and report it to an authorized representative. That being said, there are some advantages to calling our office to speak to us about your claim. Our dedicated agents can advise you on what the effects of filing your claim would be, and explain how the claims process works. Hopefully taking the headache out of what already is a painful process. If it is an emergency, you should call your insurance provider directly, to expedite the process.

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About McIntire & Associates

McIntire & Associates has been providing quality service and insurance coverage to the residents of Cleveland Tennessee and throughout Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia for over 30 years. Begun in 1981 by Bob McIntire and his father, Bill McIntire, the company has grown to one of the largest agencies in Bradley County.